Barcelona Mission: (Zaragoza) Week-22 2012

This week went well and we traveled to Barcelona!  And things here in Zaragoza are still going well. I still love being here! It´s an amazing area and we continue to see miracles daily.

One small miracle happened in Barcelona while waiting for the Barcelona Hermanas to get back to the piso, we got a random phone call. A lady named Maria had found out that we were trying to visit her neighbor Sandra. She called us asking if we could meet with her and her Mom. They said they were really interested to meet with us to hear what we had to share. Incredible! People are calling us!

Another miracle was about our recent convert, Elvis. Out of the three baptisms last week we were the most worried about him passing his interview. In every lesson we didn´t know if he was paying attention or not. He did pass the interview and did get baptized, which was a miracle! But then he got fired from his job. We felt so bad and went to visit him at his house. He told us that they may have took his job but they didn´t take his life.  In his room there are three pictures of Christ hung up on the wall with duct tape. A big picture and two pass along cards. He had his reading materials out and ready for us. It was great to see the light in his eyes. His countenance was changed because he had stopped drinking and smoking to be baptized.  Despite losing his job, he was happy. We had a wonderful lesson and a scripture popped into my head that I had read that morning. It was 1 Nephi 17:13.  I talked about how Christ is the light in the wilderness. He is always there to guide us especially when we are being obedient and keeping the commandments. And then we knelt and prayed (which we never were able to do before being in the shop or outside teaching). The Spirit was SO strong. Hermana Reeder and I hugged each other afterwards and said:  "This is really what missionary work is all about."

Our other two recent converts are also struggling in life. They don't have jobs to sustain them here. Spain is in hard times right now economically.

We are praying that it will be better here for everyone soon.

The Relief Society Presidency offered to do a surprise birthday party on Friday for Hermana Reeder because it is her last week here and her birthday is on Friday. The Branch does not often do activities, so it ought to be a fun day.  I know it will be one of the best birthdays she will remember and for sure will be a surprise!

Our recent convert, Engracia is doing great still!  It is amazing to see the change in her. I can already see her at the temple someday. I hope I can be there with her when she goes through. 

We have a lot of great visits set up this week with the members to give Hermana Reeder the best last week ever. I am sad to see her go because I have learned so much from her and I love her so much. She is an amazing missionary and Zaragoza will never be the same without her.

 Also, the girl who wants to be a nun that we taught, keeps cancelling out on us. We haven´t had a cita since that day and she won´t come to church...

Like I wrote at the beginning, we went to Barcelona Wednesday night and stayed with the Hermanas there. On Thursday we went and got Hermana Reeder´s fingerprints done. Then we went to visit the Sagrada Familia and then we went to Plaza Catalunya, which is a food market. Later, we went to Plaza Espanya and saw a neat light and water fountain show. On Friday we went back to Zaragoza. It was a fun week.

Next Sunday we are going back to Barcelona to take Hermana Reeder to the Mission office. I will find out about my new companion on Saturday. Maybe I'll stay in Zaragoza, we'll see!

Love you,
Hermana Johnson

Barcelona Mission: (Zaragoza) Week-21 2012

What a week!  Hermana Reeder and I are exhausted from working so hard. We saw a lot of miracles this week and looking back I know that Heavenly Father was helping us every step of the way-physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Without his help we could not have made it.

Three wonderful people were baptized this weekend.

First, Happy who is from Nigeria was baptized. We baptized her husband, Pius, back in June. He always told us that he wanted us to teach his wife (who at the time was living in a pueblo cerca de Pamplona). Hermana Reeder and I never thought that would happen. After Pius´ baptism he disappeared for a while and then came back with his wife, Happy and their 2 year old son, Joseph, and their 6 month old baby, Joann. We taught Happy quickly and she learned fast. She is wonderful. She has SO much faith and determination to progress in the gospel. Her life is HARD to say the least.  She was nervous when it came time to enter the water. But she came out with a huge smile on her face and said, "I am so excited." Then after the service she said, "I just want to thank you so much for everything that you have done for me." That is what missionary work is all about! It was wonderful to hear that sincerity and to see the happiness on her face. She was full of the Spirit. Everything that we went through to teach her and to help her understand was all worth it and a big testimony to me.

Bright is also from Nigeria. He is wonderful, very sociable and outgoing. He told us that something was missing in his life and that he needed to find it so he could be ´bright´ again like his name. The Elders actually found him and it was a miracle. They knocked on the wrong door and Bright was there visiting someone. They contacted those people and then gave Bright as a reference to us. Our lives have changed since. He was so willing to change and used to be a drug seller in Tenerife to earn money to pay rent. He stopped it and other vises for good. I felt inspired to give him the talk by President Monson called, "Be of Good Cheer" because it he said: “The future is as bright as your faith."  He LOVED the talk and said he couldn´t deny that President Monson was a prophet of God.  He was so happy after his baptism. He said, "I'm a new man".

Elvis is from Nigeria, too. Bright brought him to church with him, the first Sunday he came. Bright is a great missionary and it turns out Elvis is as well (references!). He has a lot of faith and was willing to stop smoking and drinking which was a big part of his life. He works at a hair cutting store and also likes to rap, do gymnastics, paint, fix cars, and sing. He is a man with many talents. He has one young son living in Nigeria with his mom. Elvis´ mother passed away last year, which was really hard for him. We were able to teach him the Plan of Salvation and help him realize that he will see her again. His prayers are meaningful and come directly from the heart. I learned more about him from his prayers in our lessons than I did from the conversations in the lessons themselves.

What a week of miracles. Once again, I am thankful I am here in Zaragoza to be a part of it all.

Thank you for your love and support.

Love you all and am praying for you.

Love,
Hermana Johnson

Barcelona Mission: (Zaragoza) Week-20 2012

What a week! The weeks are just flying by like crazy. I can´t believe I am sitting here at this computer emailing you again.

Mom! Thanks for all the emails and all the news --- especially about Bryanna and Jasmine. I would love to see the picture of them two in their little swimming pool.

Thanks for telling me about the weather in San Jose. I am so excited for Natalia to go on her mission there. I wrote her a long letter of suggestions and advice. We ate with her family yesterday in between the Branch meetings and it was so good!

No one really writes me anymore these days, but I love getting the letters from Sis Maczko because I love rereading my emails and reading about others´ experiences in the mission field.

It was exciting about the BYU football games. Keep telling me the news I want to hear about them; especially about the game against Weber State. My District Leader, Elder Tirado, has a scholarship to be the mascot for Weber State when he gets home next summer.

We had an interesting week. Every day is filled with adventures and stories. It´s hard to keep up with them all!

Zone Conference was great. The Church’s drove us in their car. So nice to be in a car! It was their 44th wedding anniversary and Hermana Reeder and I pretended like we forgot. On the night before, we made a card and created a fun little poem for them. We also called up the Zone Leaders and had them buy them some napolitanas in the morning and we called up the Paces to tell them about it. When we got to the Church’s house in the morning, Hermana Church immediately said it´s our anniversary today. We acted like we were surprised and we congratulated them. At the chapel before the conference, Hermana Reeder (violin), Elder Dixon (one of the Zone Leaders) (violin) and Hermana Pace (piano) were practicing a song.  Meanwhile Pres. Pace showed me all the numbers of how companionships are doing and said that Hermana Reeder and I are basically leading the Mission! …And that our Zone and District is leading the Mission because we all got in 20 lessons last week. It was incredible!

For the Church’s anniversary, before the conference started, we read our poem to them. Then they received their napolitanas and Hermana Pace and Pres. Pace sang a song to them – "Let Me Call You Sweetheart".  They said it´s a tradition between them because it was a tradition between Hermana Pace´s parents. It was wonderful and the Churchs were so surprised! They knew it was all because of Hermana Reeder and I. It was exciting to see them so happy and it was the least we could do to serve them because they do so much for us. On the car ride home I told them that I would take them to JDawgs (because they have never been before!) and that we could go on a double date to see the old archive films on the first floor of the BYU library. I love them so much. They are on many alumni associations for BYU because Elder Church is an archaeological researcher. And their son right now is a professor for the Communications Department. And their daughter makes films for BYU and for the Church. It´s exciting to hear all of their stories. I can´t wait for you to meet them someday.

One miracle this week is that man, Javier, whom I sat down next to on the bus a couple months ago who was inactive for 10 years came back and he blessed the sacrament on Sunday! It was amazing to see him up there, now fully back into the church. In Gospel Principles class the Branch President´s wife was teaching about missionary work. She asked me if I had an example of an experience or confirmation where I knew that I was here for a reason. I shared the story of finding Javier on the bus, answering his prayers, and helping him back into the church and then him blessing the sacrament. It was wonderful.

Another little miracle is about an investigator we have that I told you about before. Her name is Sonia, (originally from Cape Verde.) She is so great about keeping her reading commitments and always has a question for us or something special to share with us. We left her the General Conference edition of the Liahona and she has almost read the whole thing! It was neat because she read a talk that she wanted to share with her sister-whose baby is in the hospital. It was a really touching talk about how things will work out and how special lessons are learned. Anyway, it really touched me and it was kind of answer to my prayer of how to help my own sister who recently found out that her daughter has a hole in her heart. We cried together and she suggested that I share the talk with my sister as well. Sonia is so amazing. She fits into the Branch really well and seems like she´s already a member. She needs to pray and find out if the church is true and then make the decision to be baptized. She thinks she would like her sister to fly from Portugal to see her baptism, if she decides to, but we don´t think this will happen because her baby is in the hospital and will be for a while. It´s an interesting situation and we have been praying and asking some members to help us help Sonia to know that she is ready to be baptized.

And another miracle was when we were teaching a lesson and a Catholic Priest from Poland, who lived in the piso joined us. We were teaching a girl our age who wants to become a nun and her mom who is against it. We prayed hard that we could have the Spirit. We had planned to teach something different but then we knew we had to teach the Restoration lesson.  At first the Priest was very defensive and wanted to argue. But when we reacted calmly to his comments, he calmed down. My voice was a little shaky as I taught the First Vision lesson and it was the most powerful part of the visit.  I know at least the girl could feel the Spirit and we knew that if she felt the Spirit, she could influence the other two. She wants to serve the Lord and we told her that she could serve a mission for our church. She seemed to like that idea better because she wants to have a family someday. It was incredible. After the First Vision lesson the Priest kept quiet and let us finish. We bore our testimonies of the truthfulness of our message and we invited everyone in the room to read, pray, and ask if it was true. They all said that they would. We promised that they would receive an answer if they did and the Priest even backed us up on that promise!  He ended politely by saying thank you for the message and that he does not agree on many points of doctrine, but he admires that we could testify with such confidence. He said a lot of Pastors and Priests don´t meditate when they pray, or don´t feel anything when they preach, so he admired that in our prayers we expressed our sincere feelings and thoughts to God. It was incredible where we were at when we started the lesson as compared to where we were at the end. After we walked out the door, Hermana Reeder and I just took a deep breath and hugged each other on the stairs. It was exhausting, but I am grateful for the Spirit that helped to guide us and hopefully touch the hearts of those people.

Here in Zaragoza, people find us and just walk up to us. This is a prepared place and we see miracles every day, it seems. We eat meals with the members now and have had wonderful experiences with them and see the difference it makes at church on Sunday. People are more approachable and are interested in what we are doing.  There really is a great spirit these days as compared to when I first got here back in April. I feel so blessed and privileged to be a part of it and to be seeing all of these changes.

One last miracle to share is that we went and visited an older woman (member) in a residence home on Saturday. She is the most social one in the group of older people there. She gave us a little tour of the place and introduced us to everyone as Sister Missionaries from the church that she attends. She even bore her testimony to one woman, testifying of God´s love for her and of the Restoration of the church. She had no fear as an 88 year old woman with a walker. It was a huge testimony to me...if she could do it that easily, so can I. What a great example and a boost of confidence and motivation for me to have no fear about talking to people.

This weekend we are helping three Africans to get baptized. Our whole Branch is surprised, but excited. It will be a busy week and we have a lot of work to do to help them. We are confident that the Lord will help us do His will and not our will. I love being an instrument in the hands of the Lord and helping people come closer to Christ.

Have a good week. Keep moving forward and don´t look back. Learn from your mistakes and trials and move forward. "The future is as bright as your faith." –President Monson

Love you so much,
Laura

Barcelona Mission: (Zaragoza) Week-19 2012

Mon, Sep 3, 2012 7:59 am

Time is flying by so fast and I can´t believe it is already September. I feel like I just got here to Spain. There are some days where I forget that I am here in Spain, or even in Europe.  Then I hear people talking and think wow!  They’re not speaking English.  It´s funny how that happens.  In a month from today Hermana Reeder is going to be on the plane headed home!  It’s so weird to think about. I don´t envy her. I love being out here, it has been a wonderful experience.  I have learned so much and there is still so much I need to learn.

 
This last week was a fun week. We did really well. It was not a Standards of Excellence week like the four previous weeks, but pretty close!  Thank you for all of your emails Mom I really appreciated them and loved reading them.

Also, better to have packages sent to my apartment address instead of the office.  It takes FOREVER for me to get them from the office (unless I move to a different area close to the office).  The next transfer date is Oct. 2nd to let you know.  I feel like I will be here though for another transfer showing someone the area.  We will see.

This last week was really good.  There are two amazing Africans that we have been teaching called Bright and Elvis... what names right? They are doing well and progressing; Bright more than Elvis.

We had a Zone enfoque this week and went to Lleida by train on Tuesday. An enfoque is without the President and the ayudantes (assistants). This week we have a Zone Conference with the Paces and the ayudantes in Lleida on Thursday. I am excited to see them again. Also, we don´t have to take the train because the Churchs will be driving up there and taking us with them. I am also really excited because President Pace invited his first counselor, President Wolfart to speak at the conference!!!  I love the WOLFARTS!!!  I am so excited to hear from him again.  He is so great!  It´s from 10-4 with a luncheon at 2.  I want to sit next to Pres. Wolfart at the table because I love hearing his stories.

We got a calendar passed around this Sunday and we are eating with some of the members, which is really nice.

We have been running every morning and I feel good!  People have told me I lost weight hahah. I don´t know if that´s true but I know I feel good. I also have great healthy meal ideas for when I go back to BYU, thanks to Hermana Reeder.

The huge miracle that happened this week was that a less active African member of our Branch spoke up during Gospel Principles class. It doesn´t seem like a big deal but after all that we have been through with Kingsley, it was wonderful.  Kingsley has been a member a while in Nigeria.  I am not sure how many years he has here in Spain, probably more than four, but he doesn´t like going to church because he and so many others say that it´s not the same as the church in their own country.  Then they go on and on about the differences in the culture and the people and the traditions.  They say people don´t greet them or even smile at them.  It´s very interesting. They also don´t like the Spanish language and prefer for us to speak to them in English.  We invite Kingsley to church every week and he has even been a little missionary himself helping us in some visits with his friends.  He has a strong testimony but just needs to attend church!

Another miracle was that after Sacrament Meeting the Branch President´s wife asked me about Sonia´s progress.  I told her Sonia doesn´t want to get baptized until her sister can come from Portugal to be there.  Resu offered to think of a way to tie that into her lesson in Gospel Principles so that she could help Sonia better understand baptism and it was wonderful!

Anyway, Kingsley spoke up in class! He raised his hand and in Spanish said: "I will try to explain myself adequately but might need some translation."  He started out in English but then moved into Spanish and talked about the wonderful blessings that come from tithing.  He even mentioned he was in a Branch Presidency in Nigeria.  We had no idea!  It was wonderful.  His testimony was so strong and it really helped Sonia better understand tithing.  Hermana Reeder and I looked at each other and both had tears in our eyes. What a wonderful miracle to hear him!

Later that day, I felt an impression to call Kingsley and thank him for his comments. We are following Hermana Pace´s advice and working on compliments. I complimented Kingsley´s comments and he was shocked.  We told him how much it helped our investigator and how much we could feel the Spirit. He said, "It was my pleasure." Then I handed the phone to Hermana Reeder and she did the same. At first he was laughing because he didn´t think we were serious but then it was great.  Compliments and the two little words, "thank you" mean so much.  It was something small but great at the same time and we hope that in the future things will change for Kingsley, and maybe he could be an example for the other Africans to change as well.

We had a baptism: Angela Mendez Garcia from Nicaragua. She is 53 years old and has 12 children (who all live in Nicaragua). If it wasn´t for our great Ward Mission Leader, Sergio Siles, she wouldn´t have been able to get baptized. (Also, because of the help of the Lord and Sergio we have been doing so well here in Zaragoza...really Sergio is the reason. He is always sacrificing his time, car, money, everything for the work of the Lord).

Anyway, Angela found the church through a less active member named, Mayela. Mayela brought her to church one Sunday back in May.  She came for a month and we should have started teaching her back then but so many changes were happening around here, and it turned out it wasn´t her time anyway. Hermana Reeder and I started teaching her in June.  She got a job in a pueblo taking care of older people and left town in July.  We were so sad because she seemed so prepared.  Although she can´t read very well, she has such great faith in God and is diligent and so loving.  Anyway, she made it back to Zaragoza and got baptized. It was beautiful and she is so happy.  Another wonderful miracle!

Love,

Hermana Johnson

Angela Felix's Baptism

Angela's Baptism

Nice train compartment

Jamon (Ham) Store in Zaragoza

Barcelona Mission: (Zaragoza) Week-18 2012

Hi,

We are doing well here. Many miracles happened this week; enough to get the Standards of Excellence again. We are really seeing the hands of the Lord in our lives and many people are being blessed.

 
One big miracle story that I can think of was from a referral from the Elders. They found a man named Bright. We had been trying to get a hold of him for two weeks. He finally called us back and we set up a visit with him in a plaza. He told us that he had been to many churches but said he didn´t feel comfortable with any of them. We taught him about the Restoration and he said that it made sense.  He came to church on Sunday and even brought a friend and our great Ward Mission leader picked them up. They enjoyed church, even though his friend was a little lost because of the Spanish but Bright was catching on real fast. He even participated in the Gospel Principles class along with our other African investigator, Solomon. It was great to see them participating and understanding. Afterwards he said that he loved church and that he would come back next week. Now we are working with helping him live the Word of Wisdom. He is coming a long way. He told us that he wants to be happy. He wants to live up to his name and be a "bright" person. He is really willing to change and knows that he has a long ways to go, but we are willing to help him every step of the way. His baptismal date is for September 15th.

Our recent convert Engracia is amazing!! She keeps continuing to surprise me and is preparing herself to go to the temple and do baptisms for the dead-specifically for her daughter, her parents, and some of her siblings. She heard about patriarchal blessings and wants to receive hers. She gave a talk last week in Sacrament meeting and shared her conversion story and her favorite hymn. She gave a prayer in Relief Society and is helping us teach some investigators. She is INCREDIBLE!! Her faith is huge and I feel so blessed to know her and had the opportunity to teach her. She has visiting and home teachers now. She´s often lonely and loves the visits.

We are working our hardest and trying to be the best we can be. We have many faults but we are progressing. I know that the Lord´s hands are in this work. We have been seeing many miracles big and small.

Last week we got invited to a nice dinner to celebrate Carla and Ignacio´s family getting sealed in the temple. When we got there we realized it was kind of a private gathering on the balcony of the Primary President´s house. We felt honored to be there and all of the leaders of the Branch and their spouses were in attendance. It was a wonderful opportunity to mingle with them and get on a more personal level with them because we haven´t had many opportunities to eat with them at their houses (they all live far away). Anyway, the next day Hermana Reeder and I felt that we should write a few thank you notes to some of those leaders, including the Branch President. We have seen miracles happen through those little thank you cards. "Thank you" can go a long way. That same day I read in Alma that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass...that´s what is happening here in Zaragoza. Big changes are eventually happening as results of small actions throughout the 4 transfers I have been here. I feel blessed to be here.

Tomorrow we are traveling to Lleida for a Zone get together and then next week we have Zone Conference with the Paces again. It´s been great traveling and it makes the time go faster. Lately it´s been a bit tough with Hermana Reeder preparing to go home in a few weeks. It´s a very interesting situation; the person going home and the companion trying to keep working.

I love you so much and know that God loves us. He is watching over you, even if it doesn´t seem like it at times. Pray. Read. Go to church. I know I say that every week, but those are really the keys to keep moving forward and to receive the help from above that you are seeking and needing. I love you.

Love,

Laura

Barcelona Mission: (Zaragoza) Week-17 2012

A miracle story this week was when a lady with her two sons walked into church on their own. They didn´t know anyone and it was their first time at church. Little did I know that this would be the most prepared woman that I have met since being a missionary.  Her name is Sonia and her two little boys are Adrian who is 4 and Alejandro who is 7. They are adorable. Sonia is separated from her husband. She was born in Angola Africa, grew up in Cabo Verde, moved to Portugal, and then moved here to Zaragoza. Her younger sister and brother in law just got baptized a few years ago in Portugal. Their story is incredible. The husband wasn´t happy with the way he was living his life and the way his relationship was with his wife. He got on his knees and prayed to know what to do and how to change. A few minutes later, Missionaries knocked on their door! They both got baptized and everything improved for the better. Sonia saw the change in them and was amazed. Her sister than gave her a Book of Mormon in Portuguese and wrote a letter inside. Sonia read it to us. Her sister invited her to read the book, ponder the message, and pray to know it´s true. She then taught her how to pray and promised her blessings. Every time they talk on the phone her sister asks her if she has visited the church in Zaragoza. In the 8 years that Sonia has been living here she hadn't. Her and her boys live alone and she works part time cleaning houses. She is cute and very optimistic. She was struggling teaching her boys and she mentioned it to her sister on the phone one time. Her sister encouraged her to take the boys to church because there they will learn about God and Jesus Christ. She testified that everything would be better if they visited the church. So last week Sonia was praying and felt like she needed to visit the church. She looked it up online and discovered where the building was and what time it started. Then we found her! She is incredible. The members thought that she was already a member and just visiting. She participated in classes and felt very welcome. Her boys loved church. We visited them in their home. She hadn´t started reading the Book of Mormon yet. We gave her one in Spanish because she said her Spanish now is better than her Portuguese. Her little boys asked her when they were all going to get baptized. She told them not yet. We invited her to be baptized. She said yes but would not get a baptismal date because she wants her sister to be there... She is so prepared. In every lesson she shares with us experiences that she has had in her past that have led her to this point that she is at now. When she was 20 yrs. old her 40 yr. old mother died in her arms. Sonia was telling her mother before she died that she shouldn´t join a different church other than the Catholic Church. Her mother said that she was finally happy with herself at this other church and that she could feel closer to God and that she knew the state of her salvation. Sonia didn´t understand at the time. Her mother died with her Bible on her bed next to her. After telling this story Sonia said that now she is in the same position as her mother. Her heart has been opened and she is on the path to know God better and become closer to Him. She said she could feel the Spirit when she reads in the Book of Mormon. She already read the introductory pages and up to 1 Nephi 5.

I know that I am supposed to stay here in Zaragoza this transfer because of Sonia. I have to be here to help teach her and to help her prepare to be baptized. The other day she was praying and asking God if everything was really true and if the Hermanas should keep coming to her house. She said she looked out her window and the clouds parted slightly and out came a small ray of sunshine. She knew then that God existed and that He´s watching over her. It is incredible to hear her experiences and see her testimony grow. She is what makes being a missionary so exciting and fulfilling.

I love you all.

Love, Laura